"During my ten years of living at Pilgrim Place I have observed and experienced five “intentions” that I believe empower and guide the day by day life of this community. These five intentions are not written in any document, but I think they define the heart and will of this community."

— John Keester, Episcopal Priest

1. An intention to support & care for one another through our final years of life.
I began to see this happen from the moment we moved into our home. We knew that people were there to help. It was never a suffocating kind of presence but we knew we were not alone. Soon we saw that same caring spirit at work within the larger community and, without a word being said, we knew that we were expected to be a part of that caring spirit.

2. An intention to be instruments of God’s love, peace & justice in the world.
Starting with our very first lunch in Abernethy, I knew that we were in a community of people who were not only aware of the world outside Pilgrim Place; they were also committed to making that world a better place. We found ourselves in daily contact with people who had lived most of their lives in other parts of the word. Through this community we began to see the world with different eyes, and we found ourselves challenged in many ways…

3. An intention to give ourselves, our
talents
and our resources for the encouragement and
strengthening of the entire
community and its members.
This intention can be seen in dozens of activities and organizations that are part of our daily life.

4. An intention to make our institutional structures and policies affirm our desire for diversity and inclusivity within the community.
This Band of Pilgrims is a diverse lot. The diversity I’ve encountered within this community has forced me to try and get beyond the differences and meet the person, and in that process, I find myself becoming a different person. My hope is that our community can be an example of how to live creatively, honestly and lovingly with diversity.

5. An intention to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I see this intention in our willingness to listen to the many voices of the community in our Town Meetings. I see this intention in the many ways that this community encourages the sharing of individual concerns and feelings.

Because I see these five intentions at work in our life together I consider Pilgrim Place to be an intentional community. I rejoice in saying this because I embrace these five intentions with all my heart. Further, because of these five intentions I also call Pilgrim Place my “beloved community” and my “primary community."